8th February, 2017
The Niger Delta Youth Movement( NDYM), Ondo State chapter, on Wednesday protested in Igbokoda over the exclusion of a representative of the state in the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The protesters, who were led by Mr Alaba Agbejoye, the state Chairman of NDYM, had blocked the entrance to the NDDC office in Igbokoda and prevented staff and visitors from entering the premises.
The protesters also decried the number of abandoned NDDC projects in the state.
The protesters carried different placards with various inscriptions such as “Ondo State is Marginalised in NDDC board.”
Others read “Mr President, We need our Representative in the NDDC board” and “Youth Neglect: Causes of robbery, insurgency.”
Addressing journalists, Agbejoye said that Ondo State was being treated as a non-member of NDDC.
He added that the oil producing areas in the state had been in total blackout for seven years without any response from the government.
The state NDYM chairman said that all the projects embarked on in the area by the commission had been abandoned.
“We cannot continue to undergo these travails of being enslaved as if we are not part of the Niger Delta region.
“We are aware of some money released for Christmas for us but nothing has been given to us in Ondo State and we are graduates without work,” he said.
Agbejoye, who said that the current situation could lead to youth restiveness, appealed to the Federal Government to immediately address the issue.
Another speaker, Mr Adeola Akinjeji, said that the protest was embarked on after all attempts at peaceful resolution through negotiations failed.
He appealed to the authorities concerned not to continue to be indifferent to the plight of the people.
But reacting to the protest, the state Director of NDDC, Mr Emmanuel Audu, said that the projects were abandoned due to underfunding.
Audu, who spoke on phone, said that NDDC was already building a power terminal to be connected with Omotosho power grid, adding that the project was ongoing and would ensure power supply in the area.
He also denied the insinuation that NDDC in the state had received some money as Christmas package for the group and communities in the area.
According to him, the commission’s aim was to ensure even development of the area.